our new keyless entry and why I love it so

5 – This accessory instantly makes you feel cool. For those of us who have never really been cool in life, it’s kind of a cool feeling. You cool people have had it made.

4 – The autolocking feature is my favorite thing of all time. That might be an exaggeration, but it is 100% awesome for so many reasons.

3 – Like when I walk the dogs in the evening, no more key to hold with my phone and poop bags and dog leashes, the door locks when we go and a simple keypad entry lets us back in.

2 – You can program up to 8 different codes. Dog sitter needs a code? No prob. Workers coming to the house, they can have their own code, and then when they’re done you can reprogram that code and not have to give your dog sitter a new code because they have their very own.

1 – It is pretty dang stylish for a technological thing.

I’m not sure why these things make me so happy, maybe it’s because we live so close to the street. Or in such a ‘transient’ community where there’s always a decent amount of neighborhood foot traffic walking about. And using our key to consistently lock and unlock the door when we are home is entirely too much to take on.

I seriously just love it. That I can walk up to pilates in the morning and not rush around trying to find my key to lock the door when I am already running a few minutes late.

Or maybe it’s because we’re in Key West, and oft heading out wearing shorts and t-shirts and who wants to carry a house key if they don’t have to. So maybe it wouldn’t have the same life changing appeal to you. But it was a neat feature I thought would be fun to have, and I am now madly in love.

But if you’re interested here are a few specifics. You know, just so you can feel what the cool people have been feeling all along.

This is the exact keyless entry system I bought here. (affiliate link, and a few more to come) And the basic knob I bought to go with it is here.

I was kind of hung up about only having a plain knob on the front door, and not something like this, like we’re used to. But I don’t really know what I was worried about. Would it not look substantial enough? I don’t know who put it in my brain that front door hardware needed to be substantial.

The plain knob doesn’t bother me one bit. Maybe because I hardly ever look past the keyless entry. I appreciate the simplicity of it and like that they had a square option. Much more our style than some of the other curvy options like this or the handle and deadbolt in one like this.

The installation was pretty well-instructed in the manual and it all worked out the first time around. The hardest part was attaching some stubby little screws which connect the inside panel to the part of the outside portion that comes through the door. You have to hold pressure on the screw inside the hole so it doesn’t fall out while trying to line up the inside panel with the outer part and keep the connectivity wire (that makes the whole thing function) out-of-the-way so it will screw in properly.

black arrow – wire connecting the keypad to the back panel
red arrows – the little holes for the stubby screws
white arrows – where the stubby arrows needed to screw in

It would be nice if the holes where those little screws go were designed so you can’t lose the screws out of the them, but they are not and I actually lost one screw and the first time I connected it all it looked like this from the inside. I just could not get the whole thing to sit flush with the door.

But, at random a few days later I found the screw and gave it another go. And I say that it all worked out well the first time because that kind of little gap is not the kind of thing that we worry about around here. It’s irritating at first and when we’re just completing a project we’re all like “man that totally stinks”. And then 3 days later we’re like “gap … what gap?”.

It’s not like these awesome new commercials from Lowe’s.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV-5eH2uono]

(There is a hilarious 30 second video here that unfortunately won’t play in email or a reader, you’ll need to click on the post to see it, they make me laugh out loud … maybe because we’ve all been there.)

But, back to the keyless entry and with the second screw in place we were looking much better. I actually believe it had more to do with the wire I showed you above, it really had to be wedged into just the right spot so it didn’t block the components from screwing in completely.

And my only other “oh, you’re asking for my advice on how to make this keyless entry system easier to install?” would be to make the screws that attach the cover to the panel on the inside of the door a little larger so the allen wrench they supply to attach those screws can also be a little larger.

Between this little allen wrench and my new pry bar I am acquiring quite an arsenal of tools to remodel my very own doll house. 😉

One other finicky little thing that I still need to do is chisel out our door frame so the plate fits in the right spot where the deadbolt locks when the door is closed. See how they are out of alignment here, the plate for the deadbolt and the plate for the door knob, which is in the right spot. I’ll get to that, at some point.

But the coding instructions were clear and we were pointing and high fiving at our auto locking door (which you can activate or deactivate at anytime which is nice, say, if you’re having a party or something and want to keep the door unlocked) as soon as it was installed. And I was brainstorming how many people I wanted to make codes for. Seriously, who has 8 different sets of people you would want to have unlimited access to your abode? I hardly even like that many people in real life. 🙂

But the keyless entry system. I love.

And I’ll keep you posted on how long the batteries last. It runs on 4 AA batteries and I’m curious myself how quickly they’ll wear out.

Anyone else out there have a keyless entry? Love it as much as we do? Any insight into how long the batteries last?

Update: I should have included this originally, this post isn’t sponsored, Kwikset doesn’t know who I am, I am just seriously finding new reasons why I love this thing everyday. That moment you get to your front door with your arms filled with grocery bags only to realize you haven’t dug your key out of your bag yet. Yeah, there will be no more of that around here.

Comments

So very cool! I saw something like this the other week (using a key fob) and have been thinking about it ever since. I’d love to get one, how easy would that be to get into your house while carrying stuff. And it looks great.

I still keep a key on my key ring, I’m assuming the manual open option will still work, but I don’t know that for sure. We do have a side door that I we can always get in if something were to go wacky.

We change batteries once a year – have yet to actually run a set into oblivion. For little screws you can dab a bit of super glue on them to hold them in place. I tried fingernail polish and it wasn’t strong enough (or I was too impatient to let it fully dry). The gap – I’ll bet you have that little wire pinched in there (don’t ask how I know that).

I TOTALLY had that little wire pinched in there, that was the trickiest part for me, holding in those little screws while lining it all up AND getting the wire in just the right place. Love the glue idea, not sure I’d be patient enough for thr nail polish either!

Depending on how much you use it depends on how long the batteries last. If you pay attention when locking it, you will notice it sounds a little different when the batteries start to wear out. Also, if you use rechargeable batteries, they last longer (in any device). Just always carry your key with you. Most people use the door going out to their garage so you can always hide a key in your garage somewhere. We have no garage so we just carry the key with our car key.

That’s interesting about the light, ours has a blinking light that is green when it’s unlocked and red when it locks, but I’ll keep an eye on it to see if it changes at all. Thank you so much for the comment.

We had these on our house when we bought it and I have to say if yours needs a master code to reset it then make sure you write it down. We had to completely take ours off the door to get the code. We needed the code to make sure the previous home owners didn’t leave any codes programmed into it. But they are awesome systems, it’s so easy to give to people so they can keep an eye on your house when you’re out of town.

I don’t have a master code reset to content with but I have been thinking of taking the back off and setting a few alternative codes just so they are ready if we have a last minute requests to have friends feed the dogs or something. I am still shocked about how much we love it, though!

Love my keyless entry ! I had a fight to get my husband on board with it but now he even admits he loves it. We have a 14 year old who was forever forgetting to take her key to school & we ran into problems when she would come home & nobody was home to let her in. Now we don’t have to worry, especially in winter. Worth every penny to know my kid is home safe & warm.

Love our keyless. We have never had a key for our front door. Ours is at least 15+ years old and still works great. I have torn it apart, sanded and repainted it to match our new door color. Ours is a old model, stores one code, no lights or indicators and the numbers are rubbing off. We burn the batteries completely out before we change them – no waste in our house! Like other posts mentioned, you can hear the lock turn slower for several days before it stops working. If its super slow, we push the code in twice to get the deadbolt to completely unlock. So not a biggie. Never been locked out and if we were, the garage door opener would save the day. My key ring has 3 keys on it, one for car, one for mother-in-laws house and one for the mailbox. Love the simplicity of this entry.

We have one and love it although I insist on having the lever handle as well. Doing my one trip balancing grocery act and the dog at my feet I don’t have to put anything down. Punch code in and let my wrist open the door in one smooth move!

I just came across your post on Pinterest. We have had a Schlage keyless lock for 6 years now. I absolutely love it too! We have kids and had a cleaning lady and I love that we could control all of those codes. My husband and I were just commenting that we haven’t ever had to change the batteries and it gets a ton of use! I am glad that you love yours too!

Wow, that is amazing that you haven’t had to change your battery in 6 years Suzette! The flexibility to manage multiple codes for entry is awesome, its one of those things I’m so glad we tried out because we really love it!

I found your porch redo on Pinterest and this keyless entry lock caught my eye. I am now looking into getting one for both the front and back doors. Thanks so much for a great post with tips on installing!